belle epoque

Oh my. It is so easy to get out of the habit of blogging! Especially with things like holidays, fun husbands around the house, babysitters on vacation, Hulu and Netflix “watch-it-now”, you know. These things take up time, and don’t always provide a lot to show for it.

But I did make some handmade things this holiday. Including a passel of penguins for a super-fun ornament swap


Some personalized Warms (thanks to Blair) for family

A couple of toys for HMB (I wanted to make more but honestly she isn’t really into softies or dolls at this point– it is all about musical instruments and other things that make noise)

A family of hats for us (I think Moondoggie wore his to work today, so it isn’t in the picture– it is just like the white one but in red– see? HMB’s is a mix of his and mine!)

Christmas cookies and gingerbread cake for a holiday baby jamboree we had here at home

I also cooked a Christmas ham, a New Year’s Eve dinner party (for grown ups! it was so much fun) and lots of other things to get us through the holiday days and nights.

But oh 2009! HMB turns 1 this year! In less than 2 months, wow. And while I am not the best at keeping resolutions, there is always lots of room for improvement in my corner here at chez belleepoque. I really would like to blog more often- you are all so nice for coming to visit and comment even when I’m so inconstant! I feel sort of guilty about a post that doesn’t involve something I actually made with my own hands.

I would write more frequently if I felt better about telling you about what I’m reading or watching or thinking about in addition to what I’m making (still with an emphasis on crafty, of course!)– would you like to read about that or would it bore you? Well, I’ll give it a try in the next few weeks and we’ll see how it goes. In that vein, one thing to share– Netflix “watch it instantly” has a ridiculous number of BBC/A&E literary adaptations available, which took up sheer HOURS that i could have been doing other things over the holidays. One such that you must watch if you are a sucker for period romance a-la-Jane Eyre is North and South. I bet you could request it from the library if you’re not a Netflixer. You won’t be sorry! Richard Armitage–where have I been that I hadn’t heard of him before? The next Colin Firth? What do you think?

That compelling topic for serious discussion out there, I’ll say goodbye for now, but hopefully not for so long again!

Whew! December has flown by–I do have some things to show for it that I’ll blog about soon (hopefully). But in the meantime I want to wish all of you who celebrate it a very Merry Christmas! I hope yours is warm, cozy and full of treats.

Whoo! We had a surprise broken bone and some surgery chez belleepoque in the past ten days. Thank goodness the invalid is pretty much fine now, but it sure put a wrench in the delicate works of keeping up with NaNoWriMo, crafting, blogging and a ridiculously mobile almost-9-month-old (man, that kid is into EVERYTHING). Anyhow, I’m not here to complain. I’m here to tell you about TWO EXCITING THINGS
1. I am participating in the Cotton Spice Last Minute Gift Countdown again this year, so on the 23rd look for a pattern and tutorial for this guy posted here and over there

2. I am also honored to participate in the San Francisco Bazaar Bizarre again this year! On November 30 at 3:00 pmI’ll be teaching a demo on making this guy

If you are in the Bay Area and want to come, please head over to the site to find registration information. The demo costs $7 but includes a kit with everything you need to make two penguins, and even turn them into tree ornaments if you like! If there are leftover kits I will put them in my etsy shop for those of you who aren’t local but want to make one anyway.

I can’t believe it is almost December. Where the heck did 2008 go?! Ok, back to catching up on my NaNo wordcount while HMB is taking a nap. This kid doesn’t like to sleep so I have to make the most of every second!

A little break from NaNoWriMo (broke 10,000 words yesterday!) to share a bloggy brainstorm: a music swap for the littles in our lives! HMB loves music and dancing

Shakin’ It At Music Class
So I thought it would be fun if we all put together mixes and shared our favorite songs, complete with decorated sleeves and playlists just like in college (or at least back in the olden days when I was in college and we used to make tapes). Please head over to my Mixtapes for Minis page for the details and to join in!

Back to cranking out the wordcount…

Thank you so much for all of the sweet comments about my Halloween post! All of a sudden I’m excited about my closet again. My favorite fall clothes have been in waiting since 2006 (too preggo for most of them last fall) and while I’m not back to my pre-pregnancy shape (hah! hardly), all but the very snuggest fit again! It is like having a whole season’s worth of new clothes, and I’m putting them together in different ways than I did before. I got myself some inexpensive knee socks in bright patterns at Marshall’s awhile back to keep my legs warm when the chilly weather finally arrived. I think all of the bright colors and wild mixing of patterns I do when dressing HMB is having an influence on me!

Nothing in the outfit is handmade, but I wanted to show it to you anyway, since dressing in something other than Old Navy roll-up pants and long sleeve t-shirts is inspiring me to get back to making clothes. My latest obsession is a super-soft baby wale corderoy a-line shirtwaist dress in some divine fally color– perhaps slate or pumpkin, if I can find the fabric at a good price. I’ve found the perfect vintage pattern (I searched for new ones and was surprisingly dismayed at the shirtwaist options out there– lots of ick!), so I’m waiting on it to arrive then I’ll track down the fabric and be on my way!

In other news, if you look at my right sidebar you’ll notice I’m participating in NaNoWriMo again this year. I’m finding I actually write more now that my writing time is broken up into baby-sleep time– I know my time is very, very limited so I just type away the minute she goes down to the minute I hear her peeping! If you see that word count lagging, feel free to prod/encourage me to keep it going! I shall try to continue craftiness and blogging while noveling too. I think creativity nourishes itself, so I often find when I’m doing one creative thing, I’m all the more inspired and energized to do others. Hoping that is the case this month!

I also have a HUGE backlog of crafty show&tell + thank you’s to blog about (you wonderful, generous people know who you are, and soon anyone else who reads the blog will too!), so I’ll hopefully be seeing you all again soon.

The party yesterday afternoon was a blast! As you can see, HMB was a ladybug– I made her whole costume from scratch (it is hard to find black pants for a baby!). I got the basic idea over on the CRAFT blog but I decided not to do the whole velcro thing and just make the ladybug part have little black sleeves to keep it on, and added a pair of stuffed legs so HMB would have the requisite 6 (when you count her actual legs). And there’s no way this kid would keep on a headband, so a cotton jersey hat with antennae did the trick. It is hard to get a still picture of a baby in costume! They’re always on the move. But here it is from another angle so you can see a bit better

Miss S had a great time at the party (babies everywhere! chaos!) and made a new friend

Hope you have more treats than tricks today!

For treats! Let’s leave aside the over-a-week silence around here, kay? Good. Today I had a babysitter and tomorrow miss S and I are hosting our first joint party (10+babies in costume! I’m freaking out a little with excitement). Because only the adult attendees of the party will be eating actual food, I thought I’d go ahead and try to make some sophisticated grown-up candy.

Fleur de Sel Caramels. And OH MY GOSH, they are delicious. And really not that hard if you have a candy thermometer and can be somewhat nonchalant about molten sugar. Here they are in progress

I will post about the party and show you pictures of HMB in her (homemade, natch) costume tomorrow or Fridayish, but had to share this candymaking experience now in case you’re feeling the urge to make your own treats too!

Sometimes I make crafty acquisitions I have to business making- witness this

A ridiculously sweet yo-yo kit from Jen- I hope there are some left her in shop. See that bobbin full of the right color thread? See that insanely cute needlebook? So, yes, even though I don’t have a yo-yo maker or any need of yo yos, it had to be mine. But all of those lovely pre-cut circles of coordinating fabric, certainly I could do something with them!

Enter the crafty imperative of the moment- some of my dearest friends have recently moved into a new home. I had been thinking and thinking of what to make them for a housewarming present when it struck me, and voila

A pillow cover with bright pops of color appliqued to the front! I used 9 of the 4″ squares, heat’n'bond and some plain canvas from my stash, along with the trusty blanket stitch on the Bernina to secure the circles. It took all of an hour or so, and if I had gridded out my circle placement on a pattern it would have taken less time (I like it so much I may make a pattern so I can make more!). The back is a simple envelope close with a little personal touch

I hope they like it! And now of course I want to make more…

I’ve made some more quick and easy meals that really satisfy on these chilly (even in California) fall evenings, so I thought I’d share! Two caveats: there are vegetables but I’m afraid the meals as a whole don’t translate as well for my lovely vegetarian friends (my apologies!). Also, there is butter involved- I make no claims as to the “figure friendliness” of these meals, but they are yummy, which is sometimes the most important thing! All of the photos are a little funny since they were taken at dinnertime, with no flash, but you get the idea.

Pork Marsala(ish) and Roasted Acorn Squash
Squash:
1 acorn squash
2 T butter (divided)
2T brown sugar (divided)
ground nutmeg
salt
1/2c water
Heat oven to 400. Halve your acorn squash lengthwise and remove seeds & stringy pith. Pour water into a small glass baking dish (I use a 9×5ish pyrex) and place squash in it, cut side down. Put in hot oven for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, remove from oven and turn squash halves cut side up. Put butter and brown sugar in center cup of each squash half, sprinkle over a dash of nutmeg and salt on each half. Return to hot oven for another 15-20 minutes until the butter and sugar are melted and bubbly in the centers of each squash half
Pork Cutlets marsala(ish)- I don’t care for mushrooms these days, so I leave them out!
4 thin-cut pork cutlets
2 shallots, cut into rings
1T butter
1t olive oil
1/4 c sweet marsala
salt & pepper
Heat butter and oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring until they are soft and starting to turn golden. Push them out of the way and place pork in skillet (I do them in batches), cook for 2 minutes then turn, salt and pepper the done side and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove to a plate and pop in the oven to stay warm while you finish the sauce. Pour marsala in the hot skillet with shallots and bring to a boil, allow to boil down almost completely. Remove plate of cutlets from oven and pour juices on plate into skillet with sauce, stir a bit. Divide chops onto plates and spoon sauce over each portion.

Roast Chicken Breast with Shallots and Greenbeans
2 (or however many people you’re serving), bone in, skin-on chicken breasts
3-5 shallots, each cut in two pieces
melted butter (1t per chicken breast)
salt and pepper
Heat oven to 400. Wash chicken breasts and pat dry. Place in baking pan (skin side up), brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange shallots around chicken breasts. Bake for 35-40 minutes. That’s it! You could also toss some new potatoes with some olive oil and put them in with the chicken and shallots to roast. Yum!

Green Beans
1 lb trimmed, washed greenbeans
olive oil spray
salt & pepper
Spray baking sheet with spray, throw in greenbeans, spray again, sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and put in the oven along with the chicken. Everything will be ready at the same time.

Oh! And last night I made the Shepherd’s Pie from the latest issue of Everyday Food:

I highly recommend it! It makes *a lot* and though it has more steps and chopping and dirties more pots than I typically like for a weekday meal (which is why I made it on Saturday with Moondoggie there to entertain HMB while I peeled potatoes), it is very easy and very tasty. I did make some changes- tarragon instead of thyme (bleah! thyme!), yellow extra-sharp cheddar instead of white, buttermilk instead of regular milk and less beef than recommended since that is how much came in the package. I think we’ll be having leftovers for dinner tonight…

You guys know all about The Toy Society right? A totally fun and brilliant idea, and when I read about it on Jodie’s blog I knew I had to get involved. So, I wrote an e-mail asking if it was an invitation-only sort of thing or if someone like me could just ask and be accepted. I got a sweet reply inviting me to go ahead and jump in!

One of the UFOs in my pile was a a Wee Bunny, all cut out and ready to be sewn and stuffed. HMB is lucky enough to have a fabulous Wee Bunny given to her by Bethany, so this one was sadly without a recipient. Perfect for my first Toy Society drop! I put extra love in all the stitching since it was going out into the world alone to find a home

And this morning, a truly beautiful San Francisco morning, HMB and I went to our favorite park to drop it off- I hope it brings a smile to whoever finds it

Dropped: Alta Plaza Park, San Francisco, California, USA
Number of Toys: 1
Made by: Nancy, using a pattern by Hillary
When: October 8
Dropped by: Me- Nancy

I want to do this again and again! It is so fun. I have another UFO softie of my own design in that pile that I think is destined to go to another San Francisco park. Maybe HMB and I can do a little tour de parc around the city, dropping toys as we go!